Morrisonn Out vs. Montreal; Tonight's Lineup

Defenseman Shaone Morrisonn did not travel with the team to Montreal for tonight's game and will miss his second straight contest -- and third overall -- with a bruised right foot. He suffered the injury blocking shot vs. Florida on Jan. 19. Coach Bruce Boudreau said the injury has not worsened, but it's not healing as quickly as the team had hoped.

Here's how the lines appeared during the a.m. skate, though Boudreau later said that Gordon and Laich will swap places tonight.

The 'D' pairings have also changed since my first posting. Here are the new ones:

Erskine-Green (This is will give Green a more freedom to do his thing).
Jurcina-Poti
Eminger-Schultz

Johnson will start in goal and oppose Huet.

Asked if he would consider sticking with Johnson if he keeps winning, Boudreau said: "That's not necessarily true, but there's a possibility that if he keeps going I might go with the hot hand for a short period of time."

Johnson, who is 5-1-0 under Boudreau with a 2.05 goals against and a .926 save percentage, will start his second straight game vs. the Canadiens.

Boudreau was also asked if he's worried that Ovechkin's production may slip now that he's signed that enormous contract extension.

"Alex is the kind of guy that it doesn't matter," he said. "He plays hard, he wants to win, and he wants the team to succeed every night, whether he's making $1 million or $10 million. It wouldn't make any difference."

Ovechkin said: "I don't want to relax. I don't want to be a person who don't work. I want to give thanks to the team."